The very first lines of Poe's "The Man of the Crowd" imply that it is a secret story by nature, as Poe suggests that this particular narrative may not "allow itself to be read" ( p.1561). The story itself assumes a responsibility independent of that of the author, because it is the story itself that must force the reader to find the reason in its foundation. This story is very similar to the "secrets that cannot be told" (p.1561), because like the bearers of these secrets --- the men who die "every night... due to the horror of the mysteries that cannot be told they will let reveal" (p.1561) --- the author, Poe, does not have the ability to release what does not want to be released. As a result, the narrator's reliability is called into question, as the line separating the seemingly sane narrator and the suspiciously mad man being followed becomes vague when both are literally elbow to elbow, retracing over and over their respective recycled steps. Through careful analysis of the narrator's somewhat clinical observations, the reader is able to decipher his actions, for, like the man followed, he is wracked with desperation and possesses a "crazy energy" (p. 1567) that instead it leads him to retrace the steps of another. to direct himself. The narrator is unable to deliberately release the inexplicable complexities within himself that have kept him “ill in health” (p. 1561), but being convalescent, he is now able to project the “film of [his] vanished mental vision ” (p.1561) on this text to illuminate in the context of the man he follows in more ways than one --- The nameless man of the crowd. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From the beginning of this story, the reader is bombarded with evidence of the narrator's education, whether from the various quotes in different languages ​​that are cited or the impressive vocabulary that is often used. This can only be described as an attempt to secure the reader's trust by demonstrating an intelligence that has been newly liberated and "electrified, surpass[ing] both its everyday condition and Combe's vivid, yet forthright reason [and] the mad and fragile rhetoric of Gorgias" (p.1561). After the "mist that was upon the narrator's intellect" is lifted, Poe takes special precautions in making a comparison between the source of the narrator's logic and that of Gorgias, which, as the fifth footnote indicates, is "known for a kind of rhetoric that preened at the expense of reason" (p. 1561). It is exactly this reason that is called into question, for while at first glance this metaphor may hold the narrator's healing intellect to an impressive standard , in fact, the very wording of the sentence calls into question the narrator's logic. His rhetoric matches that of Gorgias, since in an attempt to reassure the reader that this is a reliable source of information, the text is bogged down with quotations from three different languages ​​in the first two paragraphs, and seems overly wordy with no clear purpose As the evening progresses into night, the narrator describes a carriage "that can be called deskism for want of a better word" (p. 1562), but the real irony is that almost any other word would have conveyed a definitive meaning. meaning to the reader, since the word “deskism” isn't actually a word at all. The narrator's control over his language, the method by which he reveals his mysterious story, and the method by which he hopes to persuade the reader that he is a coherent and reliable narrator, fail as he goes deeper into the night. the man the narrator follows exists in contextof the narrator's illusion. The narrator's reality changes as he is consumed by what contributes to his improved condition "the light of every day" (p.1561) and is slowly becoming a victim of circumstances that he himself cannot control. Poe intentionally singles out the "day" by distinguishing the hyphenated word "everyday" (P.1561) which he uses in the transition from the more colloquial "everyday", as it is the light that distorts the narrator's perspective perhaps liberating a delusional mind that she should not be freed from the "fog...[of]...boredom" (p.1561) that the absence of paranoia had generated. Before finding the man he follows, the narrator falls victim to his own hallucinatory perspective. The wild effects of the light chained me to the examination of individual faces; and though the rapidity with which the world of light flickered before the window prevented me from casting more than a glance at each face, yet it seemed as if, in my then peculiar state of mind, I could often read, even in that short interval of time. a look, the history of long years. (p. 1564)The narrator creates his own "misunderstanding" of reality by shaping his observations to justify his own prefabricated theories. After admitting that he is in a “peculiar state of mind” (p. 1564), the narrator almost immediately finds a man whose “absolute idiosyncrasy of…expression” (p. 1564) prevails in the complete absorption of “the whole thought " of the narrator. attention" (p. 1564). He notes that "anything even remotely resembling that expression [,] I had never seen before" (p. 1564), but paradoxically goes on to meticulously analyze the qualities that only a man with that expression could have. He calmly expresses uncomfortable judgments starting from banal visual stereotypes that force the reader to reconsider his position as a reliable narrator. He appeals to his violent and satisfying descriptions of what he perceives to be hidden in man, for "there arose confusedly and paradoxically in my mind, the ideas of vast mental power, of caution, or penury, of avarice, of coldness, of malice, of bloodlust, of triumph, of joy, of excessive terror, of intense, of supreme desperation I felt singularly excited, surprised, fascinated (page 1564). such a reaction on the part of the narrator, since the only evidence that could generate such a violent impression is the stranger's diamond or dagger, which is only noticed after the narrator's initial tirade. Now, being "completely nocturnal.. . autumn... a thick damp fog" hangs over our narrator, and like the "strange effect" that the weather conditions have on the crowd, our narrator, in a different way, also seems affected. He "does not take much notice of the rain...[yet] the lurking of an old fever in [his] system makes the humidity a little too dangerously pleasant" (p. 1565). He is unable to control both the rain and the effects it has on his emotions, but what is perhaps more frightening is the fact that he has apparently anticipated such changes in himself without consciously recognizing them. He immediately ties a handkerchief around his mouth, as if unconsciously trying to prevent or prevent himself from communicating. The secrets that hide beneath the surface of our narrator do not want to reveal themselves, because it is precisely at this point that the clinical observations stop and the plot has a cyclical structure. Like rainy weather, the cold, impassive descriptions of people in the crowd are no longer described as "showing no symptoms" (p. 1562) or having "red faces" (p. 1562), because it is the narrator himself who comes under scrutiny. Just notice a “sudden change inbehavior" (p. 1565) of the man he is following, yet curiously for pages he cannot understand why the man's behavior is of such a nervous and erratic nature. From the reader's point of view it is easy to explain why the man changes his route and the pace at which he walks, since his behavior is justifiable if he feels that he is actually being followed--- Almost a guarantee since the followed man almost turns into his stalker many times and always tries to lose him in crowded places. As "the rain fell hard" (p. 1565), the narrator blindly follows the stranger only hoping that he will remain unnoticed. He comments on how "lucky" he is to be wearing "a pair of rubbers over his shoes [that make him] move in perfect silence." (p. 1565), without realizing that, once again, his subconscious has preemptively taken precautions to prevent any actions the narrator's physical body may take to reveal the guarded secrets of the internal mind. The rainy images and stagnation of the plot culminate in the reflected chaos of the narrator's psychosis in following a stranger. The narrator concludes his search for the unidentified man by concluding that the man he is following simply "refuses to be alone... [and] is a man of the crowd" (p. 1567), yet he too is not in this dissimilar to the man he follows, since he also moves among the crowd, like the people he observes, "feeling alone due to the very density of the surrounding company" (p. 1562). the busiest street in London to drink his coffee, and then remaining in abundance in the "tumultuous sea of ​​human heads" (p. 1562) It is now possible for the reader to note that as he is reflected in the stranger he follows, so he does the same, but to a lesser extent, with the other characters observed. Among the beggars, he discovers that "despair alone" (p. 1563) drove them into the streets, "weak and horrible invalids, on whom death had laid a hand safe, and who slipped and staggered through the crowd looking at everyone with an imploring expression. in your face, as if in search of some casual consolation, some lost hope" (p. 1563). He too follows the stranger for no definable reason until finally he "firmly decides that [they] will not part until [he has] satisfied [himself] in some measure compared to [the man being followed]" (p. 1565) . It is like the beggar who searches for hope, because by following a stranger who takes on the qualities truly possessed by himself, the narrator is determined not to abandon his peculiar journey until he has been able to respect himself. Remember: This is just an example Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The narrator concludes this story by saying that "perhaps it is none other than one of the great mercies of God that 'er last sich nicht lessen'" (p. 1567), for example the book that cannot be read, the actions of the narrator cannot be explained. His motives, however, can be revealed, as realizing that he can never reveal the mysteries of the workings of his inner mind, he comes to respect himself as he regards the stranger he follows as the "type and genius of deep crime" (p .1567). After an entire day has passed following this stranger, the narrator comes to his senses and can only come to the understanding that he "cannot comprehend the stubbornness of [the man being followed]'s actions" (p.1566). In this understanding, or lack thereof, the narrator "wears himself to death" (p. 1567), as the narrator is at the mercy of his telling of the truth, but not necessarily the absolute truth. This time, his delusions help him escape the desperation that leads men to die "at night in their beds" (p. 1561), because by claiming to be.